2017: Page 313

The frost was not as heavy, and was only on the windshield, when I went outside to make my way toward work this morning. The moon and stars were once again shining brightly in the clear night sky and the soundtrack for the morning began playing in my mind even before I got to work, “When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest in His unchanging grace.” When I got to work I went about my usual morning tasks with the reminder playing in my mind that outside of Christ, “all other ground is sinking sand.” By the time I took the trash out, the moon and stars had disappeared behind a growing collection of thick clouds. The clouds were forming in waves with enough of a break between them that the approaching sunrise was beginning to tinge them with color.

I went inside and got my camera so I would be ready in case the sun rose before the clouds completely overtook the sky. I did manage a few sunrise photos as the sky lit up with brilliant pink and red hues for a time. As I was photographing the sky, the deer began to come out of the woods to see what I was doing. Eventually, a total of six of them came out to watch me so I watched them back. 🙂 Two of them in particular were very curious and walked halfway up the field toward me before deciding they would be better off back with their friends. Today’s photo is of three of the deer who seem to be watching something that was off to my left — well, two of them were, the third one did her own thing. It was fun to photograph them for a time and watch how they looked out for one another. When something would startle them, they would huddle together and look around as if to identify the offending noise or movement. Once they determined it was safe, then they would spread out and go back to their grazing. As I left the field to return to work, they all left the other end of the field and disappeared into the woods.

As I went about my work, I thought about how God has placed us within families, particularly within the family of Christ, to look out for one another. When one member is startled or senses danger then everyone around them should do their part to determine if protection is needed or if they can all go back to the regular tasks of life. When I watch wildlife shows that film animals in their natural habitat, the enemy of nearly any group seems to do its best to isolate a single member so it can more easily be taken down and consumed while the rest of the herd is away from the isolated member. Satan often works in a similar manner as he tries to isolate individual Christians from the church family which ought to provide a means of looking out for one another. Unfortunately, that task is often made easier by Christians who decide they have no responsibility to the group. They not only remove themselves from a layer of protection God designed for them, they leave a hole in that layer of protection for others.

After my morning work was done, I picked up a friend for lunch and we spent some time of encouragement and connection together. After lunch I headed to Lowe’s to get some supplies and repair parts that I need in order to take care of a few projects at work tomorrow. The late afternoon has been spend relaxing and unwinding before setting down to write today’s page. It looks like the page will be written early and hopefully I will be able to get to sleep early in preparation for a long day tomorrow.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

While I don’t mind scraping frost off the windshield, particularly when it really isn’t that cold yet, it is surprising how good it felt to not have to scrape as much as I had anticipated.

You might be surprised at how easy it can be to make someone’s day simply by lightening their load even a little bit.

Allowing the words of hymns and worship songs to fill my mind helps me to “take every thought captive.”

Routine, and even mundane, tasks are seen quite differently when I’m doing them while singing (in my mind) about resting in God’s unchanging grace.

The same clouds that can hide the moon and stars from view can also reflect the light of the sun with great beauty.

I wonder how responsive the animals were to Adam when God brought them before Him so he could name them. It is fun to talk to the deer and have them come toward me instead of running away.

God’s desire is that the members of a family would look out for one another — whether a physical human family, or a spiritual church family.

When we isolate ourselves, or isolate someone else, we create an easier target for the enemy.

Isolating our self doesn’t just put us at risk, it increases the risk of danger to others as we are not there to do our part in looking out for one another.

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All posts on this blog are my thoughts and opinions at the time of writing and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other individual or organization. I have been known to change my mind on occasion, so the writings here may not even reflect my views all the time.
Thanks for learning with me. - Tom